


Two Bastard and an Illegitimate Heir

by booboothefoolish



Series: Two Bastards [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Every Marauder is an intentional Asshole Except Remus, Gen, HP - Freeform, James Potter - Freeform, Marauders' Era, Peter Petegrew, from year six to the beginning of the war is AU, remus lupin - Freeform, shits still fucked but it could be worse, sirius black - Freeform, sudo fix-it, written to indulge myself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-06-05 05:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6690919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/booboothefoolish/pseuds/booboothefoolish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aelius Weber was a lot of things: a bookworm, a bloody knuckles champion, and a sculpture to boot, but at this exact moment she was mostly angry. She didn't know Severus Snape. She was pretty sure if she did know him she would dislike him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Faithful Beating and an Unceremonious Meeting

Their friendship could've blossomed in a number of different occasions; when they bumped into each other in a muggle records shop, when they'd fought over a specific book in the library, even when one of them had almost fallen down the stairs and the other caught them.

This duo had not been so lucky sadly, because what spurred their friendship was the fact that Severus Tobias Snape was currently hanging upside down in a tree with his pants off.

Aelius Weber was a lot of things: a bookworm, a bloody knuckles champion, and a sculpture to boot, but at this exact moment she was mostly angry. She didn't know Severus Snape. She was pretty sure if she did know him she would dislike him, but sill this was rather a ridiculous and malicious thing to do to another person.

“Hey Potter!” Aelius shouted walking over to the mass of her peers, they all stared at her and she took a deep breath, God she hoped she was doing the right thing, “What the hell man put him down!” she felt all the eyes on her.

Potter just laughed at her, “Yeah?” he grinned wand still raised pointing at Severus, “You gonna stop me? You a little 'Puff?” Aelius rolled her eyes and took another step towards him, “Oh I'm so scared!” he said mockingly, his whole entourage following suit.

Now Aelius was no easily perturbed by bullies, she had certainly dealt with her fair share, but there was just something about James Potter that made her want to slam his head into the dirt.

Which she did do. Repeatedly. Even with Sirius trying to pull her off. She got one last hit in before McGonagall showed up and took both her and Severus to the Headmasters office as well as Potter to Pomfrey's wing.

Aelius sat in a comfortable looking chair next to Severus in the Headmasters office.

Dumbledore sat uncharacteristically cold in his seat, “Well?” he said, he didn't even offer them a lemon drop.

Aelius raised an eyebrow, “Well?” Severus took a sharp intake of breath next to her. Aelius realized that she hadn't actually had a conversation with him yet. She should remember do that in a later time.

“Do you wish to get into further trouble Miss Weber?” Dumbledore was definitely not happy right now.

Aelius rolled her eyes and reached over grabbing a lemon drop from his candy dish, “Can't say I particularly care.” she said chomping down on the had candy, “Sir.”

Dumbledore was not enthused by her display of teenage rebellion, “Detention with Flich for the rest of the month. Both of you.”

They both nodded and left the office, it was just not worth it to fight with the man, “c'mon lets grab something to eat I know a way into the kitchen.” she grabbed onto Severus' wrist and he froze and then retracted his hand like he had been scalded, “You okay?” she asked.

“Y-you just go me into a detention fr a month with Flich! What makes you think I want to eat lunch with you?” he yelled at her red faced and angry.

Aelius mock sighed, “Well mostly because lunch finished a half hour ago and I'm about ninety percent sure you probably want to eat.” she said, “Also you probably don't want to run into any rouge Gryffindors.”she finished with a small shrug, “So you in?”

Severus looked at her oddly, “You know I dislike you right?” Aelius shrugged and nodded, “Okay I'll join you.”

The two quickly formed a strong friendship over their mutual dislike of each other that would surpass the bond made by normal mortals. Then later in the semester Regulus joined and that was also pretty cool.

Severus had known about the boy mostly due to to the fact they were in the same house and the fact that they both hated Sirius Black although instead of pounding his face in Severus and Regulus due to a chance meeting in the library made little paper footballs and spent an hour flicking them at Sirius' head with varying degrees of failure. 

And so the duo became a trio know with by a beautiful and complex name: Geek Squad.

It was a working title.


	2. A Kitchen Meal and a Friendship Sealed

Their first real conversation happens in the kitchens. “If you ever want to get in here without me just tickle the pear right here,” She said reaching out to the painting of a fruit bowl, “it’ll be easier for you because you’re one tall bastard.” Severus snorted but added no additional commentary.

 

They entered the kitchens themselves and Severus was awestruck at how busy it was, “Impressive innit?” Aelius grinned wolfishly, “Mopsy!” she yelled out happily when she saw the little house elf.

 

“H’llo missus!” the little house-elf yapped happily, “did you miss lunch today missus, Would you like some tea and maybe those tarts you like so much?” Mopsy was a small house-elf and younger than most, probably a child of one of the older houselves, she was wearing an old flower-patterned pillowcase and mostly just looked really happy to be there in the moment.

 

“No tarts today Mopsy, me’n Severus were just looking for sandwiches,” Aelius grinned, “tea would be lovely though!”

 

“Any sandwishes you want?” she said cocking her head to the side her ears flopping a bit as she did.

 

Aelius looked to Severus who simply shrugged in response, “Ham I guess would suit us just fine,” she said squatting down and digging around her bag, after a long moment she seemed to find what she was looking for and offered it up to Mopsy, “for your troubles.” It was a smooth piece of beach glass, probably from an old bottle of some sort but the way the little house-elf looked at it one would assume it was made up of solid gold.

 

Mopsy held it with such reverence that she looked like she was about to cry, “Thank you missus…” she said not looking away from the glass, “I’ll treasure it forever.” Aelius nodded happily and got back to standing position, “I’ll get on your sandwishes right away!” and with that Mopsy popped out of existence.

 

Severus spoke for the first time since entering the kitchens, “Forgive me if I’m wrong but doesn’t giving things to house-elves free them?”

 

Aelius shrugged, “Nah s’only clothes that free them, plus it’s not like I’m the one that owns her that’s Dumbledor’s deal.” Severus opened his mouth to speak but decided against it and just nodded.

 

They lapsed into a comfortable silence and in no time Mopsy reappeared with food and drinks, “Here you are missus!” she said smiling with a tray in her hands it had the sandwiches and tea placed securely on it.

 

“Thank you very much Mopsy we will be sure to enjoy this!” she said grinning, “C’mon Severus I know a wicked place to sit and eat!” Severus nodded again and followed dutifully behind her.

 

They ended up in an abandoned corridor that seemed like it hadn’t known any sort of human movement in decades, Severus almost immediately got caught in a spider web, “Are you sure we should eat here?” he said attempting to detangle himself from the web.

 

Aelius plopped down on a step, “If I recall correctly me and you are missing class right now so unless you prefer running into a teacher…” she said trailing off at the end.

 

Severus sighed and sat next to her, “I suppose you are right.” He sat for a moment taking in the old room, probably once a populated alcove for students to fill around in and now just a useless old hallway with no beginning or end.

 

Aelius passed him a sandwich, “You, uh, holding up okay?” she said awkwardly looking straight ahead.

 

Severus too looked straight ahead, “I think so…” he said, “thank you.” He added as a bit of an afterthought.

 

Aelius chuckled, “I didn’t do too much other than punch a dude in the head and give you detention.”

 

Severus shrugged and turned his head to look at her, “It’s more than anyone else has ever done.” As monotone as ever but his eyes betrayed him he was happy, or as close to happy as he’s been in a long while.

 

Aelius met his eyes and grinned at him before she threw an arm around him, “This is the start of a beautiful friendship isn’t it?”  
Severus made a small and uneasy smile, “Sure.”  
-  
They didn’t have any classes together witch was to be expected as she was not only in a different field of learning than him but also a Hufflepuff. That in turn meant that weekday hand out was limited to purely before and after dinner and weekends or at least it would if detentions had not been assigned to the duo.

 

The month with Filch was decidedly troublesome the old crone didn’t seem to have a kind bone in his body as he made the children run around the castle dealing with any and every problem. But that month had now come to an end meaning that they could now be free to delve into the realms of friendship.

 

Severus felt grateful for the detentions, it meant that he didn’t have to face Lily, after Potter’s crushing defeat in what some students had called the ‘most brutal beat down since Salazar Slytherin was booted from Hogwarts ‘ tensions had been a little high between himself and Lily.

 

He was taken away from his inner musings when Aelius appeared out of the blue, “So Hogsmead weekend’s coming up. Are we going to hang out?”

 

Severus blinked for a moment at the smaller girl, “Yeah I guess.”

 

“Cool I’ve never had a friend to go with before!” she beamed rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.

 

That caught Severus off beat for a moment, “Really?” he had known he was unpopular but that was because he was a poor half-blood in Slytherin.

 

Aelius shrugged, “I’m too mean for the ‘puffs, too muggle for your guys, too dumb for Ravenclaw, and too ‘puff for Gryffindor!” she grinned anyway, “That’s just the way the cookie crumbles I guess.”

 

Severus soaked in that information, “I guess every house has their own undesirables.” Aelius nodded and they lapsed once more into a comfortable silence. “So you’re a muggleborn or a halfsie?”

 

“Muggleborn” Aelius said, “You?” she inquired nervously.

 

“I’m a halfsie my mum’s a witch.” He said.

 

She grinned, “That’s pretty neat!” a light laugh, “I live in London where do you live?”

 

“Cokeworth.” he said unenthusiastically picking dirt from under his nails, Aelius made note of it.

 

They continued on with their little question session until curfew was looming over them.

 

“We should probably turn in for the night” Aelius yawned and stretched, “Thanks for letting me get to know you.” She smiled brightly.

 

That left Severus speechless for a moment just long enough for Aelius to leave his view, “No problem.”


	3. A Bully and the Christmas Cactus

It’s in Hogsmead that she meets Regulus for the first time; she and Severus had been wandering through the village for the better part of an hour when they come across him. He’s a small boy and looks even smaller being near throttled by his older brother. Aelius of course feels the immediate need to get in between them.

She shouts before Severus can stop her, “Oi Black!” the pair of brothers both turn to look at her, “You wanna put him down before we deal with this the old fashioned way?”

Appearance wise shes not very intimidating. Shes small and with her mound of curly blond hair looks a bit like a cherub. They’re in an old off the path alley way and realistically no teacher is going to come down here, because why would they? If Black really wants a fight there will be no holds barred. she’s free to beat him to a pulp.  
  
Black laughs at her anyway, “What’re you gonna do to me baby ‘puff?” he's taller than James, but far more lithe. If she aims for his gangly legs she could probably knock him down.

Aelius grins back with a mean glint in her eyes, “Why don’t you ask Potter?” Severus lets out a low chuckle. Even the death grip on the front of Regulus’ shirt doesn’t stop him from grinning a little bit too.

Sirius is by no means an idiot, no matter how immature he may seem, and he know going up against Aelius is a poor idea. Especially when there are three possible allies for her to call upon if need and there is just one of him. Black glowers at her but puts Regulus down anyway before shoving past her, “You better watch yourself.” he says shoving her with his shoulders as he brushes past her.

Aelius sighs deeply before offering her hand to the younger boy, “What a wankenstein.” Regulus laughs a little. It wasn’t a clever joke, but it lifts his spirits considerably.

“Thank you, uh…” he doesn’t know her name, Aelius smiles anyway.

“The name’s Aelius Weber nice to meet you!” She offers cheerfully as she shakes his hand, “Can I buy you a butterbeer or something?” 

In the years to come Regulus will recount this as one of his cheesier moments, but right now with a bruise on his arm and heart palpitations? He simply closes his eyes, takes a shakey breath, and nods at her.

Nobody even notices the trio enter the Three Broom Sticks, they seat themselves and leisurely enjoy their drinks. The place is packed with students, and is warm as all hell, but after the little scrap with his older brother Regulus welcomes it. They sit at their table quietly Regulus sat between the two older kids in a show of support.

It’s not every day that someone steps into a difficult situation for a complete stranger and Regulus can’t help but let her know, “Why’d you do it?” Aelius raises an eyebrow, “No really why did you step between my brother and me?”

Aelius put her mug down and laughed, “He’s your brother?”

“Yeah! I’m Regulus Black,” Aelius snorts a little more, “Did you seriously not know?” his questions come out as more of a shout and her snorts turn into something more akin to a full chortle.

“N-no!” she’s breathless at this point and grinning like crazy, “I thought he was just some jackass picking on an underclassmen!” it’s at this point that everyone at the table is laughing. Aelius looked like she was on the verge of crying. Today is a good day.

Regulus sits there with a mirthful look, “I can’t believe it…” he’s looking at Severus, “surely you know who I am?” Severus nods. Regulus looks back at Aelius and laughed even harder. Because of one simple act an important connection is formed, a bond that will quickly become important in the coming years.  
  
-  
  
It was almost Christmas and the atmosphere of Hogwarts was almost electric. Decorations hung from every nook and cranny of the elaborate castle, and even the abandoned alcove Aelius favored so much had gotten a bit of Christmas cheer.

Regulus looked at the tinsel and candles thrown haphazardly around the room and chuckled, “Mopsy must have had the time of her life doing this.” He said with a grin.

Aelius smiled, “Hey, I helped too!” she replied giving the younger boy a playful shove.

Aelius and Mopsy had worked very hard to confiscate any unneeded decorations from common rooms, halls, and even from Dumbledor’s office. The room seemed to be almost sagging from the immense weight of all the new décor.

Severus sat and just took it all in, it was nice and far more festive than the Christmas’ at home, “What are you doing for the break?” he asked. Severus was of course going to be spending his time here, much safer than that of spending it with his father, although he did detest leaving his mother alone.

Aelius shrugged at looked thoughtful for a moment, “Hmm, probably going to spend it here,” she replied looking off into the distance for a minute and fiddling with the hem of her sweater, “you?”

“The same as I've done every year,” a ghost of a smile crossed his face, “So I guess we will spend it together.” Aelius’ face lit up like the candles around her, “And you Reg?”

Regulus nodded smartly, “Mother’s probably going to need me to come home for the holiday.” He said looking rather crestfallen; Aelius gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

Severus looked around thoughtfully for a moment, “Tell her you found a really interesting Dark Arts book in the library.”

In his mind Severus saw this as a viable option; the Black family was an ancient house that prided itself on both the pureness of its blood as well as the intelligence of its brood, and as unsavory as Walburga could be surely she would permit her youngest son to continue his supposed academic discovery.

“My family has a library.” Regulus raised an eyebrow at his friend, “One primarily filled with Dark Books.” Severus sighed and rolled his eyes, or not he supposed, milling over other possible ways out of the situation.

Just then Aelius jumped up, “Tell her it’s an incredibly important research on something spooky!” she chirped up and twinkled her fingers. Aelius had really gotten her hopes up when Severus said that he’d be here for Christmas and now decided that she wanted both of her friends to spend the holiday’s with her.

“I guess I can try but I have no Idea how effective that would be.” Regulus looked thoughtful, “What kind of project should I say I’m working on?” he needed at least some form of convincing lie to tell his mother lest she see straight through him.

“How Purebloods stay pure?” Aelius offered.  
  
“By having sex with your cousin.” came Regulus’ snappy reply. Severus choked out a laugh but Aelius looked positively disgusted.

“Why having pureblood is better than Muggleborn’s?” Severus added offhandedly, shooting Aelius an apologetic look as he did so.

Regulus pointed his finger at Severus, “Now that right there might just work.” A genuine smile overcame his features, “Now all I need to do is write up a convincing letter.”

“Don’t worry we’ll help you,” Aelius offered him an easy smile, “can’t be that hard, can it?” she said looking back over to Severus.

“You might want to keep out of this one Aelius,” his black eyes locked onto hers, “we’re going to have to say some unkind things about Muggleborns.” Saying that it would simply be unkind was a massive understatement but it was much more tactically put instead of outright saying they were going to be writing about how Mudbloods were outright abominations of wizardkind.

Aelius looked positively crestfallen for a moment, “Oh okay.” She all but whimpered out. Severus and Regulus silently nodded their heads in sympathy, and as always they lapsed into silence albeit this one far more uncomfortable than the last.

“We should go about getting a tree.” Severus said suddenly, “If we are going to be spending the holidays here we definitely can’t all be seen in the Slytherin common room.” He added almost as an afterthought.

Aelius perked back up, “Are you sure about this?” she questioned not quiet believing her friend, when Severus nodded she nearly leaped up from her spot, “Let’s go right now!” she squeaked rocking on the balls of her feet, she grasped Severus’ hand and tried to pull him up with her but he remained firmly planted.

Regulus chuckled, “I think we should probably wait for curfew before stealing a tree.” Severus nodded in agreement.

Aelius nodded mock pensively, “That would probably be for the best,”  
  
-

It’s nearly midnight when they venture out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The snow’s caked so thick that it gets inside of Aelius’ boots.

“My feet are wet.” it’s more of an observation than it is actual complaining, but Regulus laughs at her anyway.

Aelius can't see it but Severus is grinning, “Maybe you should get better boots.” Severus voice drawls out from the inky abyss. Even with the lantern light Aelius can barely see him in all his black clothing.

Aelius huffed and stomped in the snow, “Maybe you should invest in some colours ya’ bastard.” she groaned, squinting to see him.

Severus rolled his eyes, “My parents were unhappily married when I was born thank you very much,” He pants out, the deep snow is taking its toll on everybody, “unlike somebody I-” he trails off, frozen in place he sees something in the forest moving, but what is it?

Regulus notices too, “What the piss is that…” he trails off staring out into the forest.

Aelius didn’t seem to notice her companions trouble and keeps blabbering on, “Oh piss off you bloody prick!” Aelius continues on and all but runs into him, “Oi why’re we stopped?” she questions angrily trying to push Severus out of her path. When she manages together head past his prone figure she finally sees what he and Regulus are looking at, “Merlin pissing Christ!” she gasps.

It’s a werewolf. It’s a werewolf and it is staring right at them, then almost like lightning it bolts forward towards them. A brutal roar escapes the beast’s mouth. Aelius can feel the tears well up in her eyes, but before he can get into killing range a large stag rams into the beast. The moment has come to completion and all at once they seem to remember how to move. They sprint back to the castle as fast as they can.

They never speak of this experience again, not for a very long time at least, and not even when Aelius inexplicably brings a large cactus to their alcove stating that it was ‘Much nicer than some dumb pine tree’.


End file.
